Cape Town - At levels of 101% the Western Cape’s largest dam, Theewaterskloof is overflowing again for the second year in a row after almost a decade in which at one point it was down to 19.4%.
The dam, which has a storage capacity of 480 million cubic metres of water is the main supplier of drinking water to Cape Town and as such its levels are critical.
Theewaterskloof is an earth-fill dam located on the Sonderend River near Villiersdorp and is the biggest in the Western Cape.
It is also part of the Western Cape Water Supply System.
As Cape Town approached its “Day Zero” when the taps were set to be turned off in 2018, Theewaterskloof Dam became a tourist destination with stark photos showing the dam looking very dry as its levels shrank down to 19.4%.
During a visit to the dam on Tuesday, acting Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) Western Cape head Boniswa Hene said: “That the Theewaterskloof Dam is over the 100% level, is a remarkable improvement over previous years.”
Hene said while the DWS was generally pleased with how storage dams across the province were filling, the Gouritz River Catchment remained a concern.
“There has been a prolonged and lower-than-normal rainfall for the last five years in the Gouritz River Catchment System which has caused water-stressed conditions in some areas of this region.
“The Little Karoo in particular is in a dire water situation with a potentially devastating impact to the agro-economy of that region,” said Hene.
The DWS released a statement in which it said: “On the province’s West Coast, a healthy outlook is evident, since the Olifants/Doorn River Catchment has grown to over 90% over the last several weeks.
“The Breede River Catchment dams are also in a better state with Eikenhof, Elandskloof and Steynskloof hovering above the 100% mark.”
Earlier this week, the province also said that current high dam levels are some of the best that have been seen in the last 10 years.
Local Government and Environmental Affairs MEC Anton Bredell said: “These are the best levels we have seen for this time of the year since 2013/14 and in some areas the best levels we have seen in a decade.
“We continue to monitor and support, where possible, the regions where sufficient rainfall has not yet fallen. This is largely within the Karoo regions of the province.”
Department spokesperson James-Brent Styan said the average dam level for dams in the Western Cape has increased to 77.9%. A year ago the level stood at 66.5%.
He said that dams providing water to Cape Town are at 98.1%, which is 13.6% more than the level during the same period last year.
Meanwhile, DWS spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said the DWS was embarking on rehabilitation of Kwaggaskloof Dam near Worcester, in a long-term effort to improve water security.
“DWS is jointly implementing short, medium and long-term measures to address and mitigate the potential negative impacts of this restricted bulk water supply. These measures, among others, include diversifying our water mix to include groundwater utilisation, rainwater harvesting, re-use of return flows and desalination package plants
“The DWS is acutely aware of the delays in the construction of some key infrastructure projects, and is doing everything possible to keep them on track either started or on track,” said Ratau.
He said they were concerned about the unlawful water use and vandalism of infrastructure, theft of water by the diversion of rivers and streams as such behaviour puts pressure on already strained water resources.